{"id":859889,"date":"2026-08-18T18:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/859889\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T18:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T18:12:17","slug":"mirrabooka-y-school-student-paige-wins-naidoc-design-competition-after-rebuilding-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/859889\/","title":{"rendered":"Mirrabooka Y School student Paige wins NAIDOC design competition after rebuilding confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Mirrabooka high school student has been awarded $1000 after she won a NAIDOC t-shirt design competition open to young creatives across Australia.<\/p>\n

Y School student Paige, a 16-year-old Yamaji Wangi woman, has been recognised nationally for her meaningful artistic talent after her artwork won the exciting opportunity to be featured on the Y\u2019s limited edition NAIDOC shirts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She also took home the competition\u2019s top prize money.<\/p>\n

Inspired by this year\u2019s NAIDOC Week theme, 50 Years of Deadly, Paige\u2019s artwork honours Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the importance of culture, connection and community.<\/p>\n

Her design speaks to the leadership of Elders, with hands symbolising care and connection, stars representing the deep knowledge of land and sky, and a fire reflecting the gathering places where stories and culture are passed down to generations.<\/p>\n

Paige said her achievement marked a milestone in her journey of rebuilding confidence after joining the Y School in October 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore joining the Y School, I was sad. I was a bit lost, and I had zero direction. I didn\u2019t think that I deserved anything that I wanted and needed,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then I came here, and the staff said things like, \u2018You\u2019re so cool and amazing.\u2019 I was so taken aback and confused, because no one had really verbalised those words to me before. I\u2019m in such a good place now. Feeling a lot better, and I feel very supported. I know if I fall, there are people who will always help me back up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MirrabookaCamera IconMirrabooka Y School student Paige wearing her winning design. Credit: Supplied<\/p>\n

Y School Principal Liz Parker said Paige was \u201ca wonderful example\u201d of what can happen when young people are \u201csupported, encouraged and given the opportunity to discover their strengths\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince joining the Y School, we\u2019ve seen Paige flourish. Her confidence has grown; she\u2019s embraced new opportunities, and we\u2019re incredibly proud to see her creativity recognised through this award,\u201d Ms Parker said.<\/p>\n

Paige\u2019s youth worker, Sabre Johnson, said she was proud to wear her artwork that had such an impactful meaning behind it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving faced many challenges, she has found that all she needed to access her considerable academic, creative and social talents was a supportive school environment,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me very happy to know that Paige trusts us to consistently be there when she needs support and cheer her on in her successes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paige\u2019s winning artwork will continue to be worn by Y staff, volunteers and supporters long after NAIDOC Week, serving as a lasting celebration of First Nations culture, creativity and community.<\/p>\n

The Y School provides an alternative education pathway for young people in Years 7 to 12 who have experienced significant difficulty accessing mainstream education.<\/p>\n

The Y WA is a community not-for-profit organisation and has been in WA for more than a century.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Mirrabooka high school student has been awarded $1000 after she won a NAIDOC t-shirt design competition open…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[449,64,63,14660,134,6830,44,429955],"class_list":["post-859889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-arts","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-community-news","tag-entertainment","tag-indigenous-australians","tag-news","tag-stirling-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}